Thirty kilometres east of the city of Denizli
in southwest Turkey you see a yellow signpost
pointing south to Haydarbaba Türbe and Kaklik
Cave 3 kilometres away. Kaklik Cave was created
by an underground stream eating away the limestone
and sulphurous rock of the region. It seems
strange that a cave should be situated not on
the nearby Mount Malı, which rises to 1277 metres
and is made almost entirely of marble, but on
a flat plain covered with cotton fields and
vineyards.

The mouth of the cave lies near Kokarhamam Spring
- the name literally meaning 'smelly bath' on
account of the sulphurous fumes! - which waters
a reedy marsh crisscrossed by channels

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Pamukkale's
Underworld Kaklik Cave

2002 / FEBRUARY

These geothermal waters rich in lime and sulphur
rush up from an underground course extending
hundreds of metres below the surface, and since
antiquity have been used to cure skin diseases
and to irrigate the fields.

The cave mouth is a sink hole measuring 13 by
11 metres across and 8-10 metres in depth, created
by the collapse of the roof above an earlier
cave. Inside is a great stepped travertine resembling
the famous white calcium carbonate deposits
of Pamukkale. This has been created by the cascades
of the underground stream, which forms a series
of pools as it pours from one level to the next.
Other small streams pouring in waterfalls down
the north wall of the cave have created wall
travertines in places.

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Pamukkale's
Underworld Kaklik Cave

2002 / FEBRUARY

Since sunlight is admitted through the cave mouth
moss and creepers grow on the walls, their green
tones creating an ever-changing play of colour.
The first detailed survey of the cave was carried
out in the year 2000 by the Department of Karst
and Speleology Research of the Mineral Exploration
Institute, and this was followed by a conservation
and use plan to protect both the cave and unwary
visitors. Since the inner parts of the cave contain
dangerous levels of carbon dioxide and hydrogen
sulphide, and only limited amounts of oxygen,
just part of the cave is open to visitors. This,
however, is the most beautiful.

The area is a natural conservation site and the
cave was opened to the public earlier this year.
Kaklik Cave began to form 2-2.5 million years
ago in the Pliocene Period, as the sulphurous
thermal waters gradually dissolved the limestone,
creating the first cave.

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Pamukkale's
Underworld Kaklik Cave

2002 / FEBRUARY

When the roof of this cave collapsed, it formed a sink hole cone, over which lime-laden waters from a spring outside the cave flowed, depositing calcium carbonate in the form of travertine steps. This water flows into the cave mouth and pours down the steps from pool to pool, on which the sunlight falling at different angles through the day creates a scene of wonderful variety. The walkways through the cave pass on either side of this cone.

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Pamukkale's
Underworld Kaklik Cave

2002 / FEBRUARY

The cave lies above a large geothermal spring
at the junction of two fault lines, and water
pours into the cave at many different points,
both from other caves in the system and from the
surface. The water in the cave has a temperature
of 24°C. the largest source being a second cave
west of Kaklik, whose water passes along a channel
through Kaklik built by the State Water Authority.
Another large underground stream bed can be seen
inside the gallery to the southwest.

Although Turkey is a land of many and varied caves,
Kaklik is unusual in many respects, with features
found rarely in other caves.

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Pamukkale's
Underworld Kaklik Cave

2002 / FEBRUARY

Interesting,
beautiful and accessible, the cave is expected
to attract great interest now that it can be
safely explored.

* Dr Lütfi Nazik is a geomorphologist
at the Institute of Mineral Exploration in Ankara